St. Catherine 82, UW-Stout 74
ST. PAUL, Minn. (November 27, 2016) - UW-Stout built a big first period lead, but St. Catherine University cut away at the lead and went on to defeat the Blue Devils, 82-74, Sunday.
The Blue Devils (2-3), behind a very balanced attack in the first 4-minutes, 25-seconds of the game, jumped out to a 12-0 lead to start the game, then held a 19-5 lead.
Shannan Watkins had five points in the run,
Anna Brown four,
Bailey Diersen and
Kyncaide Diedrich three each and
McKenna McVey two and the 14-point lead would be the biggest for Stout of the afternoon.
The Wildcats (3-1) stormed back with a 12-4 run of their own and trailed 23-19 at the end of the first period. St. Catherine took their first lead of the night in the second period and outscored Stout, 17-10, in the stanza to hold a 36-33 halftime lead. The Wildcats continued to keep the Blue Devils at bay, building up as much as an 11-point third quarter lead, as Mair Lee and LaShay Holt combined to score 15 points in the period.
The Blue Devils made a spirited attack in the final quarter, pulling to within six points several times, the final time with 13 seconds remaining on a bucket by Diersen. Stout held St. Catherine without a field goal for the final 2:38 of the game, but the Wildcats made 7-of-10 free throws down that final stretch.
Diersen led all scorers with a career-best 20 points, bypassing her previous best of 19 points she set last season against St. Kate's. Diersen also led Stout off the glass, pulling down a career-best eight boards.
Kyncaide Diedrich scored15 points, the fourth time this season season she scored in double digits. Stout held a 37-29 advantage in rebounds, including a 17-7 advantage in offensive rebounds.
The Blue Devils shot 66.7 percent (10-15) from the floor in the first period and hit 3-of-4 3-point shots. But Stout cooled down considerably in the second period, making only 2-of-13 shots (15.4 percent) and 1-of-4 3-pointers. For the game, Stout shot 41.9 percent (26-62) from the floor and 5-of-15 from 3-point range.
The Wildcats had four players in double figures, led by Alexis Garcia's 18 points. Holt finished with 17 points, Lee with 15 and Kennedy Jennings 12. St. Catherine never shot less than 50 percent in a single period, shooting 60 percent in the second half from the floor (15-25) and 54.5 percent (30-55) for the game.
Stout will be at Northland College, Tuesday, Nov. 29 before taking a week off of competition when they return to Johnson Fieldhouse to close out the semester with a three-game homestand by hosting UW-Superior, Tuesday, Dec. 6.
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